Nanotechnology is all wet

Automotive Design & Production,  Feb, 2008  

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Yamaha (www.yamaha-motor.com) has developed a new nano-engineered material called NanoXcel which it says both improves the strength and reduces the weight of its personal watercraft hulls by as much as 25%. The material utilizes a proprietary nano-filler that is layered thousands of times to produce a bonding surface much larger and stronger than the fiberglass reinforced plastics traditionally used in hull manufacturing. This means less material is needed during the full-scale high-compression molding process. "The lighter material, with its remarkably smooth finish, is more nimble and agile in the water," says Mark Speaks, president of Yamaha's watercraft group.

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